Welcome to Cast Iron, a weekly newsletter about fitness, tarot and current events that hits inboxes every Monday (usually). Each issue features a workout based on a tarot card, a tarot pull related to current events and, sometimes, a blog post or journal prompt. You’ll also find a list of my current favs at the end of each email, so be sure to check those out if you’re low on inspiration or energy.
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The Tower represents unavoidable upheaval.
The Tower is sudden, drastic and destructive; It’s here to change your life by destroying decisions or relationships built on flawed foundations and understanding.
This card says, “What you were doing was never going to work. I’m tearing it all down so you can start anew.”
The structures destroyed by The Tower were already lopsided and probably only lasted this long through your stubborn determination to make things work no matter what.
The above card shows The Tower as a small tent in the middle of a dark wood. I love this portrayal because we can infer that The Tower that’s crumbling doesn’t have to be large or believed to be permanent. In fact, the tent would imply that this was a temporary shelter, perhaps one you initially sought out to escape or survive subpar circumstances. But then you settled and stayed.
As Michelle Tea writes in Modern Tarot, “You don’t always know the right way, and the Universe has intervened, dramatically, to push you in the proper direction.”
The lightning bolt is divine influence or information/clarity that suddenly illuminates the situation and leads to powerful revelations. Whatever your religious beliefs, think of the lightning bolt as the second half of “cause and effect.”
I’ve heard some compare The Tower to the biblical myth of the Tower of Babel, which Melissa Cynova describes below:
The Tower of Babel was “a creation of ours that was to reach the very heights of heaven. For the builder’s glory, not for God’s. Then God knocked it down … After the tower fell, God came down to the rubble and made everyone speak different languages (babble) and they scattered and formed tribes. To sum up: creation, destruction, confusion, rebuilding.”
Rachel Pollack points out in Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom that The Tower can also be seen as a person who lives only for fame, wealth or other materialistic concerns. Through their lack of introspection, they’ve imprisoned themselves.
“We see this person as a Tower; grey, rock-bound with a gold crown,” she writes. “At the same time a pressure builds up inside the mind as the unconscious strains at its bonds. Dreams become disturbed, arguments and depression more common, and if a person represses these manifestations as well, the subconscious will often find some way to explode.”
The pressure and pain of The Tower are unavoidable but I’ve crafted a workout that’ll help you stand up tall when the winds of change threaten to bowl you over.
Fit tip: It’s nice to be able to increase your weights at the gym but that shouldn’t be your only goal. If your form wavers during heavier reps, lower your weight and focus on mastering your form instead. Once you can complete your desired rep and set range with perfect form and great ROM, then try increasing your weight again.
Reading (the) Room
With The Tower’s arrival imminent, I think we should talk about how to survive it.
I pulled three cards for guidance on this particular Tower moment.
The Six of Swords says that we need to side with our heads over our hearts here, while the Reversed Chariot with the Seven of Wands implies a lack of progress despite knowing the point of all this effort.
This spread is giving me strong compromise-to-the-point-of-diluting-the-entire-effort vibes, which is horrible but seems to be the best way to get through this chaotic time unscathed. Though, perhaps, some things are worth getting scathed for.
In general, surviving The Tower and passing through it to the next card (The Star) requires you to let go of the handrails and fall into the rubble. If you deny The Tower, then you’re essentially hanging on to the side, slowly exhausting your muscles, tearing the skin of your hands, suffering burns from the embers on the wind; you’re just prolonging your pain.
Let go so you can begin to heal and rebuild.
What I’m loving this week:
The last of the Vine Witch series
This is a sweet series filled with full characters who practice magic and struggle with their flawed personalities. Highly recommend it if you want a short series that’ll take you out of the violent humdrum/chaos of life in the U.S. right now.
The bathrobe curls
There are way too many approaches to pick a single one to link here BUT this essentially is wrapping your hair around a bathrobe tie. I’ve wanted to distance myself from heat tools during Quar bc I’m not going anywhere and I have barely video chatted with anyone since the initial Zoom Boom. I still like to do my hair for me though, and this allows me to do that, be lazy and avoid damaging my hair with heat, so win-win-win.
Homemade Kimchi from this cookbook
How can you support Cast Iron?
Share this newsletter and leave a comment below! Tell me what you liked, didn’t like, want to see, etc. I want to know how to make this newsletter the best thing about Mondays. If you have a story or topic idea, drop me a line at Hello@AlissaSmith.red.
How can you support me?
Schedule remote tarot readings and/or personal training sessions with me. If you’re interested in personal training, schedule a free consultation! And if you’re interested in my upcoming workout guides, make sure to sign up for this newsletter to stay up-to-date on my offerings.
Buy a copy of COVENTRY, a secular witchcraft zine created by me and my friend Megan Castro, an Atlanta-based artist and witch. Our newest issue covers truth, bias and conspiracy and how these concepts sometimes appear in witchcraft communities. Our spellcrafting zine currently is available as part of a collab with Folk Care, a company founded by an Atlanta-based herbalist.